Hyundai Helps Halt Unintended Acceleration

Race drivers will hate this – no heel and toeing or left-foot braking. At least if you purchase a new Hyundai built from this month forward. That's because you will not be able to floor the gas pedal at the same time as mashing the brake pedal.

Hyundai says that "with virtually all cars using electronic throttle control today, there remains the remote possibility for an unforeseen electronic throttle control malfunction, causing a vehicle to accelerate contrary to driver input. Although very unlikely due to various built-in electronic safety protocols, unforeseen circumstances could still exist that could cause this type of malfunction."

The government is mulling the introduction of a mandate that would require all vehicles to have a brake pedal throttle override capability. Of course, many cars and trucks already have such systems in place. The NHTSA says the proposal will help minimize the risk that "drivers will lose control of their vehicles as a result of either accelerator control system disconnections or accelerator pedal sticking or floormat entrapment."

Hyundai says it is introducing `this critical safety technology' on 100 percent of its new models well before the government might mandate it sometime in the future. "With Hyundai's brake pedal throttle override capability, any brake pedal input by the driver, even with a runaway throttle condition, completely overrides any throttle malfunction," said Robert Babcock, director of certification and compliance affairs for Hyundai's technical center. "It is no longer possible to have increasing engine power once the brake pedal is depressed by the driver. This adds a reassuring, incremental safeguard of control for Hyundai drivers."

Sadly, most cases of unintended acceleration are not the car's fault but the driver who accidentally applies the gas pedal instead of the brake. A brake pedal throttle override system will not stop this `human' form of unintended acceleration.